Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Hanukkah
Fairy

We all know of the famous Christmas tale that begins, “Yes,
Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus.” Well, my story takes somewhat of a
different spin. You see,
five years ago, I finally had to say to my then 10-year old daughter, “No,
Melissa, there reallyisn’ta Hanukkah Fairy.”

It all began when my baby girl (now a teenager) still enjoyed the
innocence of kindergarten. As December approached, her classmates chattered
endlessly with anticipation, wondering aloud what wonderful presents they would
find under their tree Christmas morning, courtesy of their hero, the one and
only Santa Claus. From the perspective of a five year old, not getting a
present from Santa just seemed so unfair. It didn’t matter that her
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, sister Jessica, and of course, my husband Bob
and I showered her with presents for the eight days of Hanukkah. As one of
only a few Jewish children in her class, all that she knew was that her gifts
did not come from Santa, and that, in her young mind, made her feel terribly
left out.

Sooooo…in a “crazed mom” effort to ease my daughter’s pain….I sort
of made up a teensy weensy little lie. I told her she should feel lucky, because the
Jewish people had the Hanukkah Fairy.

Ok, I admit, I am not proud of my deception to my five-year
old. However, when her big brown eyes lit up, and her frown faded away, I
simply had to perpetuate the myth. What I didn’t count on were all of the
questions. “Where does the Hanukkah Fairy live?” (At the mall.)
“How does she know what I want for Hanukkah?” (I tell her when I go
shopping, and she picks out the presents and gives them to me)

The hardest questions were targeted to my husband, who desperately
struggled to elaborate on a lie he didn’t invent!

“Daddy, is the Hanukkah Fairy real?” she asked during a quiet
moment when the two shared a car ride alone.

“Uh, well, hmmm,” came his eloquent response, as he wiped the
sweat off his forehead and secretly cursed me under his breath.
“The Hanukkah Fairy is real if you believe it’s real.”

The holiday came and went, and thanks to the Hanukkah Fairy,
Melissa finally felt just as special as her friends who received gifts from
Santa.

When the holiday season approached the following year, I naively
thought my little girl would forget about the Hanukkah Fairy. Alas, t’was
not meant to be. As Hanukkah inched closer, not only did Melissa wonder
aloud about the many presents the Hanukkah Fairy would bring, but she told all
of her friends about it, who in turn told their parents, who in turn asked me
about this totally unfamiliar Hanukkah tradition. I had to whisper out of
earshot of my daughter and explain to my Jewish and Christian friends alike how
and why I invented Melissa’s new-found favorite fairy.

As Melissa got older, Bob and I tried very hard to help her
understand that, even though we celebrated a different holiday, we shared with
everyone the spirit of faith and goodwill that for me, is the best part of the
holiday season. Each year, we would “adopt” a less fortunate family, and
Melissa took delight in wheeling the shopping cart through the toy store,
helping to pick out gifts for the kids. On Christmas day, Melissa
made cards out of construction paper and we delivered them to patients in the
local hospital where I worked at the time.

We also tried to help her understand the story of Hanukkah.
It takes place in ancient times, when the Syrians attacked the Jews, trying to
force them to give up their faith. Although horribly outnumbered, the
Jews won the battle, but their Temple was destroyed. However, amid the
devastation, they found enough oil to burn in a lamp for only one day. Yet, miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, and that is why we light a
candle for each of the holiday’s eight days. Hanukkah pays homage to
everyone who has fought for the right to worship as they please, to celebrate
their heritage, to share their own traditions with their children, and to be
proud of who they are. In short, Hanukkah celebrates freedom!

Today, at 16, Melissa has long since put aside the notion that
presents arrive thanks to magical beings carrying baskets full of Barbie dolls
and Disney princesses. While she still
gratefully appreciates the numerous American Eagle gift cards she is sure to
receive this holiday season, for my teen, the holidays have evolved into
something much more than an excuse to exchange presents. It is an opportunity to help me create a
festive holiday dinner, to appreciate the memorable traditions that connect us
to past generations, and to relish in the love of dear friends and family, both
near and far.

Happy holidays to you from The Weinstein family…and The Hanukkah
Fairy!

I love getting feedback! If you like my stories, please tell me in the comments section below!

16 comments:

You know, when I was growing up one of my very best friends was Jewish and I always loved that they invited me into their home during the eight nights of Hannukah, taught me about the meaning of each night and showered their kids (and sometimes even me) with gifts but also played games, laughed, sang, and danced. They always struck me as having a little more fun than we did because though we have the pretty lights and Christmas music, at the end of the day, you open presents Christmas morning and you have dinner, of course, but the "fun" was over after the gifts were opened. I am sure my friend often felt like an outsider when it came to the other kids in the class but she never showed it to me. I suspect her mom may have made up the Hannukah fairy too!

How fun! One of my best friends is Jewish and our tradition is to celebrate Christmakkah with a big holiday breakfast on Christmas Eve morning. We play the dreidel game and keep a flashing menorah amongst our Christmas decorations. It is a wonderful and fun tradition! Just like Hannukah fairy! Its all about making it enjoyable for all of us, right?

My dear friend, this was such a sweet story! And I didn't see it as a deceptive lie, I saw it as an act of love from a Mother to a daughter. And ya know what? I'd be surpriised if the Hanukkah Fairy didn't make a re-peat appearance some day with her own children!

Chris, as always, you are so sweet! One of the funniest things that I left out of the story is, we had bought a huge Elmo doll for my nephew, and Melissa came downstairs on Hanukkah morning and saw the Elmo doll and said, "The Hanukkah Fairy came and she brought me an Elmo doll!" Needless to say, my nephew never got the Elmo doll!

Ahh, Lisa, thanks for a special peek into the holiday window of the Weinstein family.

With the obvious risk of sounding puerile, I'll admit that I, for one, think the Hanukkah Fairy exists. In my world, I've come to feel that what we imagine is more real than what we touch. Your Hanukkah Fairy was borne of a true and lasting love. What can be more real than that?

If Hanukkah teaches anything it's light over darkness. My wish for you and your family is growing light.

My friend, we must do what we must do for our children. I´ve had my share of little lies... My kids were used to receiving their gifts from baby Jesus when most of their friends got them from Santa (at least both were the 25th...) Now that we live in Spain, the Three Wise Men are the ones that bring the gifts... and in jan 6th!!! Imagine what I´ve had to do ; )

Hi Lisa--Thanks for reading The Word Mavens --of course, I had to click to find out who the Hanukkah fairy was! Off the record, I have a family story about the year my mom gave my older cousin Bobby, a sack of wrapped Hanukkah gifts, made him put on a silver crown and shoved him out the front door, so he could ring the doorbell, two minutes later and enter our Hanukkah party as "Captain Hanukkah!" hahahah Happy New YearEllen

Metro Kids Mom Speak

Follow by Email

About Me

My blog takes a humorous and poignant look at parenting my daughter Melissa, who is in college, enjoying my new role as "Mom Mom to my step-daughter Jessica's baby boy, and celebrating two decades of marriage to my husband and best friend, Bob. Thank you to Bob, Melissa, and Jessica for constantly giving me such good material!

How to leave a comment

Comments and feedback are encouraged and welcome. If you would like to leave a comment, click on the arrow next to:

"comment as" then choose either "anonymous" or "name". You'll be prompted to leave your name (if you choose name) and url - if you do not have a website, leave the url field blank. Once you have posted your comment and left your name, then hit "publish". Thank you!!